After a die-trying type of weekend for Philadelphia against the Hurricanes, the Flyers had a superior performance against the Habs to bring home a 4-1 win on the road.
Rasmus Ristolainen made his season debut on Tuesday night, his first game appearance since March 11th. In his first period alone, he recorded 3 hits and took Montreal’s Ivan Demidov off the ice after a cross-check. His physicality fits in wonderfully with the grit of this team and strengthens our bottom defense, and having him back echoed this.
It was a fairly uneventful appearance for both teams for the majority of the first period. Montreal came out unable to capitalize on 5 shots in the first 5 minutes, and Philadelphia went 0-2 on the powerplay. It was the final minute of play that rerouted the game, as both teams were able to put one on the board. Alexandre Texier was able to get one by Vladar with a slapshot at 19:00, the only goal of the night for Montreal. Just 38 seconds later, Carl Grundstrum responded with his 3rd goal of the season. In his first year with Philadelphia, Grundstrum has recorded 4 points in 6 games played. His quick response to Tippett’s cross-ice pass was a great showing for all involved, the type of play making Flyers fans have been longing for in Tippett this year and the willingness to take a shot that is often lacking with this team.
The prominence established by Philadelphia in the final seconds of the first period rang strong in the 2nd. They continued to maintain possession of the puck in the neutral zone and dominate the faceoff, preventing Montreal from really getting any strong chances. Instead, Philadelphia continued to generate chances as some key players continued to come into place.
In his 300th NHL game, Trevor Zegras was able to score goal #14 of the year to give the Flyers the 2-1 lead. Konecny’s feed gave him his 20th assist of the year as the pair continues to excel together. After a slow season for Konecny last year, he’s returning to play like his old self, and its proving to be wildly successful for Philadelphia.
Matvei Michkov secured the puck behind the net deep in the period to feed it to Bobby Brink, who was able to take a one-timer to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead at 3-1. Michkov is slowly getting back into his groove after he announced he would remain in Voorhees for both the Olympic break and next offseason, a promising commitment from the young forward.
Despite a slower play for the Flyers in the third period, Dan Vladar had a slow enough night that he was able to save all 12 shots from Montreal. Another late goal by Travis Konecny gave the Flyers their 4th and final goal of the night with an empty netter at 18:25.
The win extended the Flyers’ point streak to 5 games. Their road trip continues as they face the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night on what should be a similar performance tonight.
Philly's Next Shift 